


suit and tongue tied

by galixie



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: M/M, but hey at least hyunjin minho and jisung are living their best life, chan's really oblivious for a while, everyone else is to be expected, felix cries a lot too, felix really needs a hug, fluff to try and save the angst, it did get angstier than intended but that's just how life works life is angstier than intended, jisung is just jisung, painfully obvious pining, prom au yippee, theyre about high school age? i have no clue, this is a lot of angst im sorry, whats a school function without a few tears, woojin is basically no help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 10:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galixie/pseuds/galixie
Summary: “i was an idiot to think he felt the same, wasn’t i?” felix sniffed, leaning his head onto his arm and looking down at the water below. woojin shifted a little next to him, leaning down onto the railing and letting out a sigh.or, felix gets his heart broken by something chan didn’t even realize he had done





	suit and tongue tied

**Author's Note:**

> so,, hello!
> 
> huh! this is my first ever post on ao3 ... how about that??
> 
> this was inspired by mxmtoon's song, prom dress, but it kind of derailed from the original plan as soon as i started writing, but what work doesn't have at least 20 changes in the process of writing, right? 
> 
> this fic was actually written as a surprise for my lovely friend millie ( even though i sent a few cryptic paragraphs now and then just to confuse her ), so thank you to her for being so fantastic and dealing with my rat brain while i was writing this.

felix doesn’t know how he ended up on the steps outside the venue, wiping hot tears away as soon as they came spilling out, but things don’t always end as expected, right? it almost feels like an oxymoron, sitting outside full of so many ugly emotions when the doors behind him lead to a beautiful ballroom with the prettiest person felix had laid eyes on. 

despite all of this, felix has no clue how he ended up here, nor how he had let his emotions get the better of him. tonight was supposed to be a fun night with all of his closest friends, but his heart had other plans. it always does. 

this whole thing had all started out pretty innocent—since the end of the school year was finally coming to a close, the upperclassmen began planning for their junior prom and senior ball. felix’s closest friend, chan, had decided that his senior prom wouldn’t be the same without all of their friend group attending as well. he didn’t seem to care that not all of them were seniors, he just cared that they were with him and woojin. as faultless as that sounded, felix still felt his heart leap just a bit because chan wanted all of them to be there so much. 

chan had always been one of felix’s closest friends since he came to the school two years ago, and they had met by chance, really—felix being a timid freshman, lost in the corridors of the school, and chan being a junior who had just happened to be passing by. felix had been taken under chan’s wing pretty quickly because he was so new to the school after moving from australia. he found a strange kind of home in chan, and that was where the feelings started.

he had tried for those two years to convince himself that those feelings needed to be pushed down—there’s no way chan could ever feel the same. no matter how much chan spent time with him, talking with him every day for hours on end, always being a phone call away; those were just things best friends did, right? _right?_

but then chan had to ask felix in person if he wanted to go to prom—with the rest of the group, obviously. _that’s obviously what he meant._

when the day of prom came around, felix was still utterly whipped, and he didn’t know what to do. the gang had decided on hanging out at chan’s before they left because in typical dance fashion, there had to be pictures. however, as luck would have it, the pictures weren’t the issue here—it was _chan_ who was the issue. he just had to look … _reasonably attractive_ … in that gray suit with the peach-colored tie and pocket square that just so happened to be felix’s favorite color. it _also_ just had to be a color palette that wouldn’t look half bad with felix standing next to him, didn’t it?

felix himself was wearing a pale blue suit without a tie, and maybe—just maybe—he left the top button undone. both boys were decorated with surprisingly soft-looking white rose boutonnières chan’s mother had picked for all the boys to wear together for the sake of matching. the whole group looked great together, but chan and felix almost looked like they were meant to complement one another. 

and yet, the universe had it out for felix, which wasn’t much of a surprise to him. 

when the tears had slowed and he finally caught his breath, felix decided he needed a change of scenery. he couldn’t care enough to brush off whatever dirt could have collected on his suit when he stood up, taking in one last breath before stepping forward. he couldn’t bring himself to go back into the ballroom, so he opted to go around the side of the building and onto the deck to look out over the city. 

he walked over to the edge of the balcony and laid his head on his arms, taking in the city lights and decidedly ignoring the few couples that were having rather intimate moments, albeit at a decent distance away from him. felix took his bottom lip in between his teeth, worrying it a bit in an attempt to prevent the pricks at the back of his eyes from becoming anything else. 

“felix?”

he was snapped out of whatever lingering thoughts were left by a familiar voice. not bothering to turn around, he lifted his head slightly as a way to acknowledge the person. a hand gripped felix’s shoulder, squeezing gently. _woojin._

“what’s going on?” the older asked gently. “we didn’t know where you went. is everything okay?”

woojin should have known the answers to his own questions, and to be honest, he probably did. the minute the last question slipped past his lips, felix was back to rubbing vigorously at his eyes in a last ditch effort to hide his face, but woojin knew better. his arms were soon around felix, pulling him into his embrace and not letting go. the two stood there for a while until felix’s tears had stopped and he backed away a bit, reassuming his former position before woojin found him.

“i was an idiot to think he felt the same, wasn’t i?” felix sniffed, leaning his head onto his arm and looking down at the water below. woojin shifted a little next to him, leaning down onto the railing and letting out a sigh.

“no,” he paused, turning towards felix, “i don’t think you were.” he saw the younger perk up a little, eyebrows raising ever so slightly and the corners of his mouth threatening to turn upwards. 

“i think you both may have been worried for similar reasons,” the older continued, giving felix an earnest look, “but i’ve seen how his expression changes when he talks about you. he always lights up around you, too, and it’s not the type of joy one gets from talking about their friend.”

considering his words for a few beats, felix looked back up at woojin, “i just thought there was a chance, you know?” he scuffed his shoe at the ground, his mouth starting to downturn again, “but i guess i read him wrong when he asked me if i could come to this. he’s always had his eyes on someone else, and i’ll always be a younger brother to him.”

woojin hummed, looking back up at the clouds that were finally giving way to the stars scattered behind, “oh? who might that be?” felix shifted awkwardly before scratching the back of his neck.

“well, i thought it was you.”

woojin’s gaze snapped down to the younger in shock mixed with slight amusement. when felix didn’t do anything but avert his gaze quickly, woojin chuckled a little bit and reached out to pat his shoulder.

“trust me,” he smirked, “you don’t need to worry about that.” 

when felix only met his words with an utterly confused expression, woojin sighed just a little too loudly. was he really going to have to spell it out a little more than that? 

“if you don’t believe me, you’ll just have to ask him yourself,” he mused, mussing up the younger’s hair. he pulled felix in for one last hug, this time letting him stand there for a bit before pushing him off gently by the shoulders and holding him out until he met woojin’s gaze.

“think you’ll be okay to go back in?” he questioned, looking for any sign of life in felix’s expression, “we kind of left hyunjin, minho, and jisung slut dropping in the middle of the floor alone to Shakira,” this seemed to snap felix out of it long enough to nod with a smile dancing on his lips, and the two walked back into the ballroom as if nothing had happened. 

surely enough, woojin was right. the three weren’t that hard to point out, as a small circle had formed around them. as felix scanned the room, he could see chan sitting at their table with seungmin, jeongin, and changbin, but he didn’t look very interested in whatever conversation they were having. 

felix would have stopped dead in his tracks if it weren’t for woojin’s hand on his back, gently pushing him forward. it was at that moment when chan looked up, and felix saw... _concern?_ he couldn’t really track chan’s expression until his eyes found felix, who was still walking over to the table. catching chan’s eye, felix could have sworn he saw the corners of chan’s mouth curl into a small smile, but that was neither here nor there. 

as felix took his seat at the table, he was thankful nobody tried to ask any questions (but maybe it was the subtle look woojin gave the boys at the table that gave them enough of a hint). felix sat in his seat fidgeting for a little bit, most certainly avoiding chan’s eyesight because he still couldn’t really look at him after everything woojin told him outside. 

thankfully, the music had died down, meaning that the crowd surrounding the three dancing musketeers were dispersing. soon enough, everyone was back at the table, chatting like normal. everything seemed to be going okay; the group had some lively discussions about after school plans and uni applications, and every once in a while a couple jokes were cracked at the expense of the two seniors. everything was nice. _everything was normal._

felix was in the middle of a somewhat odd conversation with jisung—something about why history classes were overrated when we still make the same mistakes today—when he felt a tap on his shoulder. he spun around in his seat to see chan standing next to him, looking almost nervous. he rubbed the back of his neck, hesitating a little before finally looking felix in the eye. 

“can we talk?” he paused, looking around to see if anyone was listening, “outside?”

dumbfounded, felix got out of his chair and stood up to follow chan wherever he wanted to take him. he looked over at woojin with a confused look, but woojin only responded with an expression felix couldn’t quite place.

they ended up in the same place felix had talked to woojin a while ago, watching the water ripple under the city lights. there was a long pause, yet a comfortable kind of silence before chan broke the silence by speaking first.

“you know you can talk to me about anything, right?” he asked, turning towards the younger. when he didn’t get a response, his brows knitted together, searching felix’s face for any sign of recognition, “lix?”

a familiar stinging sensation came to the back of felix’s eyes, but he was quick to blink it away. he couldn’t cry again, especially not in front of chan. he couldn’t do that to him. felix blinked a few times, hoping the darkness outside was enough to mask the small pools collecting under his eyes. he nodded in response to chan’s question in an attempt to hide the shaking that was caused by the fact that he was on the verge of tears for the second time that night. he took a few shaky breaths before looking at chan once more.

“yeah, of course. of course i know,” he tried, but he barely believed his own words.

“you mean a lot to me, lix. whatever is wrong, know you don’t have to go through it alone. always find me, yeah?” chan tried once more, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and looking the younger in the eyes. felix went mute for a moment, nodding lamely. 

the bass of the music coming out of the ballroom was loud, but felix’s thoughts were probably louder. he stood in silence next to chan, feeling suffocated yet unrestricted. a few moments passed, and chan slowly slid his hand off from felix’s shoulder to join his other in propping his head up on the railing.

“you know,” chan hummed, “the stars look pretty bright tonight, don’t you think? kind of reminds me of sydney,” he smiles fondly, “i remember climbing onto my roof just so i could catch a glimpse of a shooting star. there was something oddly comforting about—”

“can i tell you something?” felix almost shouts because of his nerves but quickly backs down after he realizes how much he had raised his voice. he huffs, planting his forehead on his arms in distress. 

kind of taken aback from felix’s sudden outburst, chan looked down at him quickly. he lowered himself to felix’s eye level, resting his cheek on the railing.

“tell me what’s on your mind.”

worrying his lip between his teeth, felix looked away for a second before catching chan’s gaze again.

“what would you do if you liked someone, but you weren’t sure if they felt the same way even though you heard from an undisclosed source that they just might have feelings for someone, so you can only hope that they mean you so it won’t make things awkward, and—”

chan cut him off by raising his hand, trying to get felix to pause so he could catch his breath.

“if you really like this mystery person, you should go for it,” chan reassured, lowering his hand, “sometimes getting an answer, good or bad, gives you more closure than if you hadn’t asked at all.”

felix seemed to consider chan’s advice, zoning out as he watched the faint headlights of cars flit by in the distance. after a few seconds of something that could only be described as internal turmoil, felix propped himself up abruptly on the railing and turned towards chan. 

“o-okay,” he mumbled, raising his head to be level with chan once again, “yeah, okay.”

chan’s eyebrows raised at that, seemingly waiting for felix to say something else. when that didn’t come, he turned slowly towards the ballroom, gesturing as if to ask felix if he wanted to go back in. 

“uh, that-that’s alright,” felix said slowly, “i’d rather stay out here if that’s okay with you?”

chan nodded, turning his attention back to the ferries coming in and out of view. he knew they weren’t moving in slow motion, but it sure felt like life was. 

“hey,” felix started, looking down at his hands that were dangling over the railing, “we’ll be okay no matter what, right?” he searched for any bit of reassurance from chan.

“yeah, of course—oh my god, of course, lix,” he broke a little, wrapping his arms around the younger and pulling him into a tight embrace, almost afraid to let him go. it wasn’t even a few seconds later that chan felt felix start shaking in his arms, his grip tightening on chan’s torso. 

the two stood there for a bit, felix letting everything out, and chan agreeing to let it happen without having to say a word. eventually, chan felt the gentle push of felix’s arms against him, and he loosened his grip.

“sorry,” felix sniffed, blinking rapidly in an attempt to make himself look even a little bit put together. he drew in a few long breaths before laughing a little to himself, “what a prom, huh?”

chan cracked a smile, slinging his arm around felix’s shoulders and bumping their sides, “wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, mate.”

smiling a little wider, felix rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance, “i could have imagined at least a dozen better ways your prom could have gone, hyung.”

when all he got was a shrug in response from the older, felix saw an opening and wanted to take it, chan’s advice from earlier still milling around in his mind.

_“sometimes getting an answer gives you more closure than if you hadn’t asked at all.”_

“so,” felix began, deciding to take this wave of confidence while he still had it, “i’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, but i kind of got scared because i wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

felix paused to see if chan had anything to say. when he didn’t get anything but an inquisitive look, he decided to press on.

“i know you may only consider me as a younger brother or something like that, but,” the all too familiar prickling sensation was back, “i guess i might consider you something more than that,” he paused to fidget with the cuff of his jacket, “and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, i just wanted to be honest with you. woojin-hyung told me i should find out myself instead of through him.”

felix met chan’s eyes for the first time after confessing everything, and was chan... _crying?_ felix was incredibly confused. why was chan crying? was it because of him? did he ruin everything? 

his thoughts were interrupted when chan took a step forward and cupped felix’s face, wiping away the tears felix didn’t know he had shed with his thumbs. despite the tears in chan’s eyes, felix could still see the stars shining bright.

“you did nothing wrong,” chan smiled, as though he had read felix’s mind, “i’ve just been waiting for you to say something.”

felix tipped forward, burying his head into chan’s shoulder and relaxing into the familiar scent of citrus cologne he knew the older wore for special occasions. despite everything that had just happened, letting himself relax into chan’s arms was oddly calming to felix. 

after what seemed like forever, felix shuffled back from chan’s hold, prompting him to loosen his arms from around felix’s torso. felix’s smile was brighter than before, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he no longer felt burdened by thoughts pressing down on him. 

“you’ll always have me by your side, lix,” chan started, looking earnestly down at felix, “you’ll always b—”

felix caught chan off guard when he tugged his collar, quickly bringing chan’s face down so it was level to his. before either of them could react, felix moved forward, closing the gap between them. the other stiffened out of surprise, but melted quickly into the touch. 

chan’s lips were so incredibly soft, softer than felix could have ever imagined, and tasted like the cheap punch that had been sitting out for god knows how long. regardless of whether or not it had been spiked, felix felt absolutely intoxicated. his hand found the side of chan’s face, tracing along his jawline to tangle in his hair. chan sighed into the kiss, the corners of his lips turning into a small smile. he used the knuckle of his index finger to lift felix’s lips up to meet his once more before the two pulled apart.

“well,” felix whispered breathlessly, “that was _something_.”

“yeah,” chan laughed a little before sliding his hand down to entwine their fingers together and pressing one last peck to felix’s temple, “but it was a good something.”

and for the first time in a while, felix believed chan.

**Author's Note:**

> just a little bit of a rollercoaster ride ... sorry about that ( especially you, millie ).
> 
> i wanna say another thank you to my best friend vi for proofreading this for me no matter how many times i came yelling about how much this fic hurt to write.
> 
> feel free to yell at me about the story on [twitter](http://twitter.com/pocketsungie), and thanks for reading!


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